I'd rather argue that democracies implement "realpolitik" as much as dictators -- and lie about it. The difference seems to be that democracies are nicer when

I'd rather argue that democracies implement "realpolitik" as much as dictators -- and lie about it. The difference seems to be that democracies are nicer when the voters at home care (which is more and more common) -- and/or if it doesn't cost lots of money to be nice. For no other reason that it is in the democracies' own interest if other countries start to work better (everyone loves a richer customer). It is getting better generally, but disgusting regimes the western world is dependent on, like Saudi Arabia, can still literally get away with murder. This is the best reference I have on the subject of the article, btw. http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-are-poor/singlepage http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-are...